Valthirian Arc: Hero School Story
- October 2, 2018
- Agate
- 20h median play time
Going back to school is a surprisingly enjoyable experience.
Get on Steam"Valthirian Arc: Hero School Story" is a simulation RPG where you build and manage a hero school. Recruit students, train them in various skills, and send them on missions to grow your school's reputation. Balance administrative duties with battles in this unique blend of strategy and management.
Nintendo Switch
PC
Playstation 4
Playstation 5
Windows
PlayStation
Reviews
- The game offers a fun and engaging experience with a unique blend of RPG and school management elements.
- Building and leveling up students is enjoyable, and the RPG mechanics provide a satisfying progression system.
- The graphics and art style are charming, contributing to an overall pleasant aesthetic.
- The game suffers from repetitive gameplay and a lack of variety in missions, leading to a grindy experience.
- There are significant bugs, including issues with achievements and game crashes, which detract from the overall experience.
- The controls are clunky and not well-optimized for keyboard and mouse, making gameplay frustrating at times.
- story296 mentions
- 14 % positive mentions
- 83 % neutral mentions
- 4 % negative mentions
The story of *Valthirian Arc: Hero School Story* is generally perceived as simple and lacking depth, with many reviewers noting that it feels generic and unmemorable. While some appreciate the concept of managing a hero academy and the potential for engaging quests, the execution is often criticized for being repetitive and poorly structured, leading to a grind-heavy experience. Additionally, technical issues such as mission crashes and bugs detract from the overall narrative experience, leaving players frustrated with the lack of compelling storytelling and character development.
“The graphics are wonderful, the story is thought out, and side quests provide necessary experience to go through the storyline.”
“I really didn't know what to expect out of the story but it felt fine for a Kickstarter game and I think that they did a decent job on that.”
“The story is simple, although it could have been better (both the story and also side quests), and the execution of some areas could have been approached differently.”
“Everything in the game, the academy building, combat, crafting, story, and RPG aspects had the bare minimum of effort put into it by the developers.”
“Concerning the story: there is nothing special, just plain generic characters and a plain story about saving the kingdom; it doesn't offer anything memorable to remember this game.”
- gameplay59 mentions
- 15 % positive mentions
- 75 % neutral mentions
- 10 % negative mentions
The gameplay has received mixed reviews, with many players finding it simplistic, repetitive, and lacking depth, often comparing it to mobile games. While some appreciate the core mechanics of managing an academy and engaging in missions, others criticize the clunky controls, poor pacing, and numerous bugs that detract from the overall experience. Overall, the gameplay is seen as a grind, with potential for improvement in future iterations.
“The gameplay is fine; you get students, build them up, and then use them as your characters during missions and combat. It's simple and to the point.”
“I want to support this game because of its innovative gameplay loop of faculty administration and RPG questing.”
“Valthirian Arc successfully blends town-building and time-management gameplay with an action-RPG hack-and-slash experience, which is exactly what it set out to do.”
“The whole game is far too simplistic; there's no real gameplay, no thought, or anything, plus it's broken.”
“Its clunky, has bad difficulty pacing, and many mechanics are poorly implemented.”
“The gameplay is very shallow.”
- graphics33 mentions
- 45 % positive mentions
- 45 % neutral mentions
- 9 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game receive mixed reviews, with some players praising the charming chibi art style and overall aesthetic, while others find them lacking, comparing them to older console graphics like the PS2. Many appreciate the cute character designs and vibrant visuals, but there are complaints about freezing issues and a need for improvement in level design. Overall, the graphics are described as decent and nostalgic, though not groundbreaking.
“The graphics are wonderful, the story is thought out, and side quests provide necessary experience to go through the storyline.”
“The chibi art style looks more like GameCube done right than a mobile game, and I love the aesthetic.”
“The graphic is outstanding, crisp, and cute.”
“Graphics: not great”
“It also doesn't add anything except for a graphics enhancement that, if we're being honest, makes it look like a PS2 game.”
“Despite, I am really disappointed by the artwork in Vahss.”
- grinding23 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The game is widely criticized for its excessive grinding, which many players find tedious and unenjoyable, especially as missions offering decent experience points become scarce towards the endgame. While some appreciate the dungeon-style grinding, others feel it lacks depth and variety, leading to repetitive gameplay and unbalanced character development. Overall, the grinding aspect is seen as a significant drawback, making the game more suitable for those who enjoy relentless leveling and resource gathering rather than a rich narrative experience.
“This is a very grindy game that is not fun.”
“It does not have very many scenes with plot in general and you tend to end up grinding for hours to get to the next one, and the dialogue in between those scenes is repetitive.”
“There's no good way to train up your students unless you purposely continue to fail missions, which is unfortunate for a game where grinding is so necessary.”
- music18 mentions
- 33 % positive mentions
- 50 % neutral mentions
- 17 % negative mentions
The music in the game receives mixed reviews, with some players appreciating its decent quality and situational changes, while others find it bland and forgettable. Although there are highlights like the victory music and a pleasant credits song, many feel that the overall soundtrack lacks memorability and impact. Overall, while the music is described as lovely and fitting, it fails to leave a lasting impression on players.
“Without a doubt, the art and music are great, but that's about the only aspect I unreservedly enjoyed.”
“Music is lovely and changes according to different situations.”
“The music is pretty good, nothing outstanding.”
“Everything from the gameplay loop to the music, menus, maps, story feels like it was made to be the blandest possible.”
“The music will irritate some after the first hour.”
“No opening movie with a catchy song, no main music – unless we count the main menu’s one as such, and no soundtrack that I will remember after I complete the game.”
- replayability9 mentions
- 33 % positive mentions
- 33 % neutral mentions
- 33 % negative mentions
The game's replayability is a mixed bag; while it features multiple endings and randomized student enrollment that can significantly alter gameplay, it lacks a New Game+ mode and sufficient endgame content, leading to a sense of stagnation after completion. Recent updates have introduced some replayable boss quests, which enhance replayability, but many players still feel that the overall experience could benefit from more engaging content post-story.
“The story has multiple endings, so there's replayability.”
“I mean that would give the game lots more replayability when you can pick up where the game ends and either keep expanding your school or graduate more students.”
“The randomized student enrollment can also improve the game's replayability because a random enrollment can change the entire game drastically.”
“Not only did I have to play this on my PS5 to get it to work, it also doesn't have a New Game+ mode or any kind of replayability!”
“After finishing the game, I eventually stopped playing because there's no endgame content at all. You couldn't even replay quests, and you'll have nothing to do at the end. However, I later saw the info that there's an update to the game that makes the boss quests replayable.”
“It doesn't offer any suitable endgame content. Other than the hard quests you find near the end of this game, you will not find any more playable missions to level your heroes, except for the training missions, which is disappointing if you want to reach a high level. The final chapter just offers errand missions.”
- stability7 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The game suffers from significant stability issues, including frequent bugs and glitches that disrupt gameplay, such as freezing, black screens, and unresponsive party members. Players report that these problems can hinder progress and enjoyment, although some workarounds exist. Overall, while the game has potential, its stability concerns detract from the experience.
“There is a part two to this game, but the graphics are not as good, which makes my vertigo act up, and it freezes a lot.”
“It can get buggy later on in the game when you try to load and accept missions; it does not load properly and results in a black screen. Restarting and loading the training mission first, which has fewer items to render, works for me.”
“There are a whole plethora of bugs and glitches that make you wonder how these issues made it past playtesting.”
- optimization6 mentions
- 33 % positive mentions
- 17 % neutral mentions
- 50 % negative mentions
Overall, the optimization of the game is mixed; while it performs well with few major bugs, there are notable issues such as a lack of mouse support and excessive load times that detract from the experience. Some users appreciate the improved performance compared to previous titles, but others feel that the game has not been adequately optimized for different input methods and loading efficiency.
“I played Valthirian Arc II a lot, and this completely blows it out of the water, from gameplay to appearance to overall performance.”
“By raising them, you improve your students’ performance, which, in turn, allows you to complete more and more difficult quests (that net you good rewards).”
“But the real issue is with performance and bugs.”
“Icons continue to refer to controllers, there is no real mouse support, no mouselook, no click to move, keys can't be bound to the mouse, etc. Clearly, no optimization occurred: the load screens are what I expect from much larger/more intense games, but what I expect from something that can be adequately rendered in a browser.”
“There's little weird things like a tutorial page popping up when it shouldn't, but no major bugs or performance issues.”
- humor3 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is primarily conveyed through its amusing art style, which some players find appealing. However, many reviewers feel that the overall comedic value does not justify the game's price, especially when compared to free alternatives that offer more content and gameplay variety. While the ability to create funny combos with character classes adds a unique twist, it may not be enough to elevate the humor aspect significantly.
“The art is quite funny, and the game offers a unique way to set your heroes and teams with funny combos.”
“You can choose between passive skills and active ones to form humorous combinations, making the gameplay enjoyable.”
“The classes offered seem generic with other RPGs, but the ability to create funny team dynamics adds a layer of humor.”
- character development2 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
Character development is positively noted for its appealing designs, which are integrated into missions, enhancing the overall fun of the game.
“The character designs are nice and are utilized effectively in missions.”
“The game is fun and features charming character designs.”
